1851
by mysticxf
Summary: Setting the island right doesn't necessarily mean good things for all involved. Written before 'Some Like it Hoth', so where stuff doesn't fit with the events after that, forgive me.
1. Prologue

Prologue

The jungle was always quieter at night. The occasional ruffle of feathers from above or the steady croaking of small frogs had become part of the sound of the wind blowing through the trees. Nothing more than the static that lulled them to sleep after long days spent exploring. Searching.

It had been months since they stood together and agreed to turn the wheel deciding to banish themselves to save everyone else; months since they found themselves still on the island, listening to the silence around them. They'd become convinced they were the only ones left, the only ones who survived a secondary purge brought on by their actions, but they never allowed themselves to say it aloud. It would mean admitting they were wrong, that what they'd done was wrong and they'd destroyed everything they had worked for.

It would mean admitting they'd won the war by killing everyone involved.

Jack took her hand, felt her squeeze tightly as another contraction rolled over her lower back and through her midsection. Her eyes pressed together and she breathed in, remaining absolutely still until it was over. She began to breathe again, roughly, breaking the silence, and the frogs in the distance begin to croak again, the birds squabbled, and the wind blew through the trees – as though the island had held its breath with her, returning to life only when she took another breath.

He nodded, placing his free hand on her right knee. They were both dampened by the humid air and the heat of her skin burned his heart. He knew she was suffering; but he knew it was a necessary sacrifice. "You're doing great, Kate."

"I need to push," she told him, her arm curling around her belly, frightened by the stillness there. The tumbling, rolling sensation she'd gotten accustomed to over the past few months had gone silent and the pressure between her legs was growing unbearable. "Jack, I need to push."

Licking his lips, he furrowed his brow and shook his head. "You need to wait. You push too soon it could be bad for you, bad for the baby." He eyed the jungle just outside the cave, wished for help, but the gentle breeze cooling the sweat at his back was its only response. Somewhere in his mind he counted as his eyes returned to the space in front of him, where he watched her muscles tense.

"Jack," she pleaded.

"Kate," he answered.

She pulled her hand away from him, adjusted herself in the bed they'd made of leaves and woven vines, and pushed herself up on her elbows, eyes squeezing shut as she held her breath through another contraction. The night went silent again and she found it comforting.

Watching her stomach growing almost daily over the past nine months, she'd slowly started to understand that this baby would not only be born, but it would be born on an island in some indeterminate time and there wouldn't be anyone else there to help them. She'd started to understand that if anything went wrong, she would die, despite all of Jack's best efforts.

So she talked to her child every day, whispered information, told stories to the wind, and imagined that they shared thoughts and dreams. She sang songs and stroked her stomach and when she was too tired, she hummed softly, feeling the strong kicks in her womb that she cherished. And every night, before her eyelids closed, she told the child firmly, "I love you."

Jack swallowed hard, his hands sliding over her thighs before he said her name, watched her eyes snap open and in their shared expression she knew it was time. Knew no matter what happened, Jack would be there for them, for their child, and she pushed. She listened to him instructing her, willed her muscles to follow his words, and she sighed as he gasped, the child slipping from her body into his hands.

She knew before he told her. They'd had a son. A boy with a full head of unruly dark hair, a strong set of lungs, and inquisitive eyes that searched the world before focusing on her face as she took him to her chest. He shivered slightly as she worked to cover him with the remnants of a sheet – one of the few things that had come with them – and Jack moved to their side, kissed her temple and brushed his large hand over the boy's head with a laugh.

Kate heard him crying, joy and relief overwhelming him, as she watched the boy in her arms stare up at him. She told him his name, looked up at Jack for approval before staring back down at him. At their son. And in her mind she thought she could hear his voice, a small voice that replied, "I love you too, mommy."


	2. Chapter 01 – The Storm after the Calm

Chapter 01 – The Storm after the Calm

His legs were still short and thin, but strong, and they carried him far and fast, over rocks and fallen tree trunks and one very misplaced slow moving turtle. The long dark hair that normally hung into his eyes and teased the back of his neck now flapped up behind his head as he moved further into the jungle. He breathed evenly, unafraid, and the soles of his bare feet landed softly and soundlessly before he easily climbed up into a tree, watching for the woman who chased after him.

She arrived only moments later, stopping nearby to wipe her brow with the back of her arm. She tugged on mud colored pants that were too big for her and pushed up the sleeves of the white shirt she wore as she caught her breath. He watched her look around before she smirked and concentrated on the ground and that's when he knew he was had. She followed his tracks towards the tree and glanced up, hands planted on her waist, smile firmly on her face as she declared, "I don't care what you do, Max, it's time for a haircut."

He blew the bangs out of his eyes, and they fell back down, "But mommy, I like it long." His voice was high pitched, still years from changing, and he pouted.

Kate raised an eyebrow at him, watching him hang his legs over the side of the branch he'd been perched on. "And I like it clean."

He poked a finger up into the air and shook his hair away from his face, again, failing. "I'll wash it," he declared, but he could see in her face that he'd lost this battle.

Nodding, she waved him down, "And then you'll run around and get dirty and sweaty and scream when I try to untangle it."

"Mommy…" he pleaded, but he knew she was right. She waved a second time and he grasped the tree, climbing down the trunk. He landed in her arms and she hugged his back to her chest and kissed his jaw line. He looked up at her; bright hazel eyes staring lovingly, "Just don't make it short..."

"Like daddy's," they said in unison, sharing light laughter.

She shifted him around; felt his legs wrap around her waist as his head settled against her collar bone. He stared up at her, wide-eyed, and she touched his small nose, smiling at the spatter of freckles across his face as he gave her a familiar grin. Kate moved the hair away from his forehead and she planted a kiss there, and then hugged him to her as they made their way back home. "Not that short, baby."

Home was the caves, and they made her smile every time she got near them remembering a day – what felt like forever ago – when she'd refused to call them home. When she'd refused to be Eve. To settle down. To stop running. Watching Jack emerge from the caves and drop his head with a laugh at the sight of them, she wondered why she'd ever resisted.

He approached them calmly, a hand coming up to brush over Max's hair and rest on his shoulders as he kissed Kate and they listened to their boy giggle between them, his fingers tickling at their necks. Kate smiled, feeling Jack do the same and he stood straighter, looking down at them. "Another suitcase showed up. Looks like it might be from a century we were alive during."

She sighed with relief, allowing Max to slide down to the ground where he moved to the leather case, sliding a his hand over the foreign material. "Do you think it has toys?" he pondered, his finger flicking at the zipper.

Jack shook his head. "No, just ladies clothing…" he looked to Kate, "And a new pair of shorts that look like they'll fit Max for the next year. She was probably travelling with her son, accidentally put them in the wrong suitcase."

"She packed an extra pair in with hers, just in case," she told him, "With mothers, there's always a 'just in case' something," Kate told Jack knowingly. Eyeing her son, his brown pants a tattered mess being held up by a vine, she sighed with relief. "You ever wonder…"

"How it gets here?" Jack finished. They shared a smile. "I stopped asking myself that a long time ago. Just be thankful we're stuck on an island stuck in a pocket in time."

It was easier not to question it, the fact that a suitcase with just the right clothing, or a scrap of building material, or a box of food would wander towards the island, washing up on shore just when they needed it. They took to watching the shoreline and being grateful for the deliveries. Kate watched Max as he worked open the zipper and sifted through the contents, pulling a brush out and tossing it aside.

"You know that's for your hair."

He turned swiftly, "I can keep it long?"

"No," came the reply from both parents. Kate walked towards the cave entrance and Jack followed, a hand protectively at her lower back.

"You look tired," he told her, matter-of-factly, watching her sit and lean against a makeshift pillow.

Kate gestured towards the boy holding up a bra. "You chase him into the jungle," she tried to laugh, but frowned instead, watching Max pull a grey and green stripped shirt and hold it to his chest, plucking at the worn oversized muddy shirt he wore. "I'm afraid, Jack."

Bending next to her, he touched her cheek.

She swallowed hard as Max laid the new shirt down and stripped off his old one, walking away from both towards the nearby stream to wash his face. "He's so fast I'm afraid I'll lose him out there."

"You won't lose him, Kate," Jack assured.

Their eyes met and she nodded, standing and moving towards her boy. "Max, haircut, now," she ordered, pointing back towards the cave. His usually mischievous expression shifted, and when he looked towards Jack through his long dark bangs, expecting help, all he received was a small nod before Jack went to retrieve a pair of scissors.

*

It'd been a little over six years since the flash. Kate sometimes had nightmares; she knew Jack did as well. They wondered what had happened to everyone else, wondered if any of them had come through with them, but they knew the chances of that were slim. No one else had been with them when they entered the chamber, when they gripped the wheel and turned it. Together.

They imagined they'd have been kicked off the island, the way it had happened with everyone else who turned the wheel, instead they were flung through time, awakening just outside of the room in which they had just been, staring up at a wall of rock they knew wouldn't be penetrated for years. They were in the past. How far back, they couldn't be certain, the random things that arrived on shore seemed to come from all over time, even from times they'd yet to experience.

For months they hadn't given up hope that others had arrived on the island with them. They combed the beach around the island and every once in a while they thought they heard something in the trees, on the wind, but they never found anything. They were afraid to move too far inland, knew where the 'Dark Territory' lay and knew they didn't want to risk going into it, especially not after they found out about Kate's condition.

They explored the places they knew, they went so far as the clearing on which the barracks that the Dharma Initiative lived in would be built on; found the remnants of a statue with four toes; even stumbled across the outskirts of the ruins of a civilization that was long gone. They also ran into the smoke monster.

It revealed all of itself to them, but remained still there just watching them as Jack moved closer to Kate, as Kate covered her growing stomach with her hands, feeling the fervor of activity just beneath her palms. It clinked and hissed rapidly, swirling within itself and they took the warning and left quickly knowing the Dark Territory lay just beyond it. Knowing it's where they shouldn't have been to begin with.

Kate watched the cave wall, her hands folded on her stomach and she felt Jack stir beside her. His knuckles brushed her bare shoulder before he kissed at her neck, his hand making its way over her stomach, taking hold of her side to pull her closer to him. She laughed softly, turning on her side to kiss him, her hands coming up to his chest before she touched her forehead to his. "Not tonight, Jack," she told him with a sigh and a smile.

He nodded understandingly before asking, "You alright?"

"I just don't think I imagined we'd be here this long," she told him truthfully.

Jack leaned up on his elbow; let his finger trace the curve of her body through the long tank top she wore. "We could try to leave." He caught her eye, wanted her to know that if she needed to run, he'd be right there with her and she appreciated it, but she shook her head.

"We can't leave this place," she said, knowingly, before she shrugged, "I just sometimes wish there were other people."

"Other people or OTHER people," Jack teased.

"You know what I mean." She poked at his stomach and his hand stopped wandering, resting on her waist. "You know what I mean, right Jack?"

He smiled. "It feels awkward sometimes, not having Hurley making some joke, or Sawyer making an ass of himself and to tell you the truth, I couldn't keep track of how often I wished Juliet were with us while you were pregnant." Jack pressed his lips together and watched her, "I know what you mean. I miss them all too."

"You think they'll ever get here?"

"Turn the wheel again?"

She nodded.

Jack shook his head. "I got the impression that our little 'incident' was the last of its kind, at least for our group." He added quietly, "For us."

They were silent, listening to crickets and frogs outside. Then Kate asked, "Who does he become then?"

"Who?" Jack questioned, tilting her chin up to see her face in the darkness.

"Max," she whispered. "What happens to him when he's alone? One day, Jack, he'll be alone here."

He shifted closer to her, hugging her to his body. "He'll never be alone here."

"How can you be so sure?"

She watched the way he peered off, as if seeing through the cave wall and somewhere no one else could see before he broke out of his trance and looked down at her and gave her a nod of assurance. "The island won't let him be."


	3. Chapter 02 – Black Rock Docks

Chapter 02 – Black Rock Docks

(6 Years ago)

The seas began to churn unexpectedly as lightning cracked open the sky and the crew members struggled to keep the large ship in line. They could hear the muted complaints of those below deck, knew some were already dead or injured beyond repair. Magnus was sure he'd heard that someone's arm had been pulled from its socket. He steered the ship, shouting orders, watching men falling over each other as the waves crashed over the sides and spilled through every opening on the deck.

People below shouted with fear.

If they didn't flip, they would be sink, Magnus imagined. Be eaten by sharks and other sea monsters, he knew, trying to turn to navigate the waters. Land was days away and he knew every person on the ship cared not about the goals they set out with, but about putting their feet back on solid ground.

The water underneath swelled suddenly and before he could shout, "Brace yourselves, men," the rain had stopped and sunlight poured over their soaked bodies. The boat tilted and Magnus gripped the wheel in front of him tightly to keep from slipping as they crashed onto their sides, coming to rest against this foreign terrain.

It looked to be a jungle, thick with age. And they sat in a clearing made by their boat.

As they slowly stood, hands gripping anything they could to keep from falling back down, one man shouted, "It's witchcraft!" He threw himself below deck shrieking to those there about what had just happened before his cries went silent, a sure sign that someone – probably the cook – had rendered him unconscious with a bottle of rum to the back of the head.

All around them the jungle crackled with life. They could hear the calls of wild birds, some they'd never heard, and the chirps, pops, and squeals of other animals hiding in the brush. Listening to the sounds mingle with the steady trickle of water rolling down from their mast, dripping from their bodies, hearing the lulling rush as the remnants of the ocean slid off the boat and splattered onto the jungle ground, Magnus put a hand through his thick dark curls and laughed.

"It is a miracle!" he announced, but he could see in the faces of the men surrounding him, he was alone in his wonder. He moved quickly towards the opening that lead down to the bunkers and lower to the supplies, slaves and prisoners they held. Unfortunate fools, he thought, seeing the dead and dying. Some asked him for help and he moved forward, lifted the key ring from his belt and undid the lock on a young woman who watched with wide grey eyes.

She had strawberry blonde hair and pale white skin, and had been found stowing away amongst the supplies. Her story was that she was running from an abusive husband, but while Magnus sympathized, the crew did not. "Go up on deck," he told her gently, watching her clamber past him.

The men above restrained her, that much he could hear, and as he moved past bodies that hung limp in their shackles, he listened to the moans of those too far to see in the darkness. "If you're alive when I pass you, call out so that you may be unbound." He began to walk when he heard a scream from above.

He turned and rushed back up on deck, but it was empty and the air was eerily quiet. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw motion, a wisp of something black through the trees and he moved closer, but was immediately pulled to the ground, behind some barrels, by his first mate. "Stay down, Captain."

"What it is, Thomas?"

He was silent a moment, staring out into the trees before whispering, "A monster."

"Tricks of the light, you were probably frightened by a large bird, or a monkey," he laughed, but Thomas clapped a hand over his mouth and pointed into the trees, to a spot where Magnus saw the tattered and bloody body of one of the crew members. He shifted back further behind the barrels. "What kind of monster?"

"Black smoke," Thomas started, his dark eyes going wide with fear. "It comes up out of the ground, grabs hold of the men and takes them into the trees. You barely hear them scream before they're gone."

"The woman, I sent a woman…" he started, looking back towards the open doors that lead down below.

Thomas nodded his head towards the bushes where Magnus could now see a few heads coming up just inches to look around. "They took her, jumped over the edge and hid."

"How many are left?"

Thomas thought, but shook his head. "I don't know, Captain."

Magnus moved quickly to the edge of the ship that was closer to the ground and he heard Thomas and a few others scrambling behind him. From inside the cabin he could hear people shouting and he closed his eyes, saying a prayer for them before leaping onto the grass and vines below. He pressed his back to the damp wood of the ship and made his way around until he could see the heads of those who remained peeking up from the bushes.

"Captain," they whispered, and he realized then it was a warning. The forest behind him came to life, black smoke zipping through trunks, trees flying up into the air as a quick tss-tss-tss-tss echoed. Magnus shouted and ran towards his men as they took off into the jungle. Behind him he could hear screams from the ship and when he turned he watched trees landing atop the doors, shutting those inside in – sealing their fates.

His eyes landed on the large words, The Black Rock, painted in gold and black against the back of the ship and turned back to the jungle, his legs stumbling in front of him as he made his way into trees with what was left of the crew. They pushed in together, between the thick hanging trunks that stood in clumps like prison cells, the woman pressed into his side held the branches of a Banyan tree tightly, her eyes staring out into the jungle as the rain started to pour down over them.

*

They settled into the trees for the night. Some prayed; some talked about the women they were going to seduce when they returned to the mainland; others were discussing – in hushed tones – what had just happened and how they were going to escape. They couldn't move the boat, that much they knew for certain. They were far enough from the sea that they'd lost the scent of it, but they knew where there were trees and the will to build, they could make a new boat.

"These stars, they're unlike any I've ever seen," a man was heard whispering. "How do we navigate the seas without knowing where we are or in which direction we should be travelling?"

"We worry about that on the seas. I'd take my chances with a serpent than with that monster. A serpent is a solid thing; we can strike against it with weapons."

"Where are the weapons?"

Magnus felt the woman at his side tremble and against his better judgment he put an arm around her. She didn't budge, merely looked at him sideways before swallowing hard. "I have no intentions of harming you," he told her, hoping it would calm her nerves, but she stood and sat across from him, watching him.

In the dark he could still make out her face, bright in the faint moonlight that made its way through the trees. She looked complacent with their situation, and after she watched him until his eyes averted hers, she looked out into the night. "Most monsters sleep in the daylight," she said quietly.

It was what all children were taught. The light frightens the things that come from the dark. "This is no ordinary monster, nothing that comes from tales. Reality is often darker and much more dangerous than what can be read in the pages of a book."

"Maybe it is safer to move at night?" She asked curiously, turning to look at him again. He noticed, only then, that she was beautiful. Soft features, hair falling in long waves over her shoulder, onto her bosom.

"I think the men are too scared to move at all."

"Of course," she said with a smile. "You are men."

Magnus raised an eyebrow. "You run from a man," he spat.

"I run from a coward who raises his hand to a defenseless woman when his day is too much to handle."

"I hardly think you are defenseless."

"You condone his actions?"

Rubbing a hand across his forehead, feeling the sweat there, he sighed. "I do not. A man should not raise his hand to a woman. I merely raise the point: you are not defenseless."

"In this world I am," she uttered, her chin meeting her chest before she looked back out into the darkness.

Magnus watched his men, listened to their quiet conversations and he announced, "We must move away from this place. Everyone on your feet," and he stood, listening to the rustling of clothing and leaves, and took a step out of the shelter of the trees and began walking.

"Which way should we go?" He asked the woman.

"Emily," she offered before nodding her head in a direction that lead away from the boat behind them, and towards the mountains they could barely make out in the distance. "The mountains should offer shelter."

"It's not good luck to travel with a woman," someone argued.

Magnus touched the gun at his waist and began moving forward, feeling the woman at his side, and the men at his back. Their pace was steady, eyes on the trees, scanning for motion and it was hours later, as the sun began to warm their backs, that they reached the edge of the mountains. They searched and found caves, deep into the mountainside and went inside.

The men moaned in exhaustion and Emily surveyed the cavern, eyes wide in the dim light. She returned and sat on a rock, brushed the hair away from her face, pushed it behind her ears and looked up at Magnus who gave her a nod of approval before checking on his men.

There were less than twenty left. Eighteen counting himself and Emily and he bowed his head. "Something tells me we have a long journey ahead of us," he told Thomas.

He was a young man, dark hair tied into a pony tail at the base of his neck, and he had eyes just as dark, eyes that peered out into the sunlight. "What if others survived, Captain?"

"In a situation like this, it's every man for himself, Thomas," he put a hand on his shoulder. He scanned the faces of the men who remained and saw the exhaustion there erasing the fear from the night before. "We should rest, we'll search for food when the sun falls."

Magnus walked deeper into the cave, smelled the air as the wind curled through the space and he covered his nose in disgust. The hairs on the back of his head rose and he peered into the darkness, listening to the deathly silence there before taking a few steps deeper.

"Captain?" Someone questioned.

"I need light," he muttered, turning and walking out of the cave and into the jungle. Only a few followed, picking up the broken branches scattered about on the ground and carried them back into the cave.

He worked to start a fire, rubbing wood against wood, watching as Emily slept uncomfortably on the ground nearby, as did most of his men. Some went back out in search of food, their hands gripping long sticks they'd sharpened with their knives. Their only true weapons. They returned, their arms full of fruits with tales of boars they might try to catch at night.

A spark caught and Magnus blew into the pile of wood, watching the small flame spreading and soon they were all huddled around the fire looking to him for guidance. He grabbed a torch he had fashioned from a thick branch and dried out vines and he dipped it into the flames, watching it begin to glow.

Pushing off the ground, he walked further into the caves, feeling the air grow staler and the smell he'd caught a whiff of was growing stronger. He felt a hand touch his arm and looked over to find Emily there. "You shouldn't be here, it could be dangerous."

"More dangerous than out there, a stone's throw from where that monster could be?" She almost laughed, a smile teasing her face before she nodded into the darkness. "What do you suppose we'll find?"

"I'm hoping we'll find the den of some deceased animal," he told her truthfully.

She said nothing, just walked at his side, her eyes squinting to see further than the light allowed. Magnus was beginning to see a shape, or more accurately, a heap. He held his arm out as far as it could stretch, illuminating the pile of skeletons, the blood splattered clothes still hanging from their bones. He could make out wooden shields and spears and he heard Emily gasp beside him.

"There was war here once," he said softly, feeling the presence of the men behind them. The murmurs started then, questions he was asking himself.

"Who were these men?"

"How long have they been dead?"

"Who killed them?"

Thomas moved past them all, to stand beside Emily. "What is this place?"

"This place," Emily started, her voice echoing in the cave, "is death."


	4. Chapter 03 – Convergence

Chapter 03 – Convergence

(6 Years Later)

"This place is awesome," Max declared, looking out over the edge of a waterfall. He felt his father's firm hand press into his chest, pulling him back away from the rushing waters. They sat, legs hanging over the ragged terrain that made up the cliff and Jack looked over a few rocks at the edge of the pool down below. He remembered when he'd jumped from that very spot down into the waters below, remembered finding Kate unconscious on those rocks.

That fear in his chest then was unlike anything he'd ever felt. If she'd been hurt, because of him… he shook the thought away, looking down at the water before looking over at his son. The boy's newly shorn hair blew lightly in the wind over his brow as he licked his small lips and peered out over the trees in the distance. He stared at that green horizon as intently as Kate stared out at the ocean.

"Awesome," Jack finally repeated. "Where did you learn 'awesome'?"

"Mom." He turned to smile up at him, an amused look in his eyes. "How big is the island?" Max asked, nodding his head back towards the expanse of jungles.

They couldn't see the beach from where they were, but the ocean lay beyond the trees and behind them they could see the mountains. "It's pretty big, kiddo."

"Is pretty big really big?"

Jack smiled. "It's huge," he replied.

"Like bigger than the world?"

They stared at one another and Jack pushed his lips together to keep from laughing. "It's a big part of the world."

"Are we the only people on it?"

Thinking, Jack shrugged. "I think so."

"I don't think so," Max told him sternly.

Standing, Jack looked out into the distance. "How can you be so sure, Max?"

"Because if it's a big part of the world, and there are people in the world, eventually people gotta make it here, right? On boats and stuff?" Max stood beside him, the top of his head barely passing Jack's waist. Jack watched as Max planted his hands on his waist, squinting his eyes into the view, mimicking his father's stance. Max stood at the edge of the waterfall calmly, comfortably.

"You've been here before." He watched Max nod and he felt something in him deflate. He had been hoping to be the first to bring him to this place. He'd been hoping there was one part of the island that was safe to travel that Kate hadn't already taken him to.

"It's ok daddy, it's better with you," Max told him, a hand curling around Jack's wrist.

Glancing down at his son who was giving him a lop-sided grin he'd inherited from his mother; Jack took a step away, getting a crazy idea, and nodded down at the pool below. "She didn't let you jump, did she?"

Max shook his head, floppy hair whipping from side to side before he stared up at him, eyebrows lowering on his forehead. "No way. She said if I died she would bring me back to life just to kill me."

"I'll meet you at the bottom then," Jack told him before leaping off the edge, feeling his stomach twirl just before he hit the water.

He emerged to hear Max calling out to him and he laughed, shaking the water from his face before looking up at the boy peering over the edge, hands planted on his knees. "DAD!"

"Come down," he urged.

Max shook his head. "Mommy will KILL me!"

"Not if we don't tell her," Jack shouted back up.

"LIE?" Max hollered. "TO MOM!?"

"We're not LYING, just not telling her you jumped," Jack corrected.

"Sounds like a lie to me," Max replied quickly.

"Max, JUMP."

Max considered, looked behind him, as though his mother could be standing there waiting, and he held his breath and pushed off the edge as hard as he could. Jack watched him curl his body, hugging his legs to his chest as he closed his eyes and smashed into the water. Swimming over to him, he watched the boy float up to the surface and gasp, rubbing water from his eyes as he looked at his father, grin widening.

"Awesome," he whispered with a giggle.

Jack laughed, splashing water at the boy who paddled away from him slowly, kicking his legs out to keep him at a distance and his shrieks echoed out against the small cliff they'd just leapt from. He watched Max go under; felt him tugging at his legs and he reached down, pulling him up into his arms. Max smiled at him, spat water out at his chest and Jack laughed.

"You know," Kate told them calmly from the shore, "I could have sworn I just watched my son jump off a cliff I told him specifically not to jump from."

Max gave a small hop of surprise and Jack turned, giving her a sly grin.

"And I heard my husband tell my son to lie to me in order to avoid getting in trouble."

She smiled now, kicking her shoes off and casting them aside with a flick of her ankles as she undid the zipper on her jeans and removed them, tossing them onto a rock before walked into the water, making a face at the cold temperature before diving in. She surfaced closer to them, lazily making her way over.

"It was his idea," Max pointed.

Jack shook his head, feigning sadness. "My own son, giving me up."

Max put his hands to Jack's cheeks and whispered. "It's ok, dad, she's not really mad."

Kate splashed water at them both and Max jumped away from Jack, diving into the water to swim closer to the waterfall and climb up on the rocks beside it. She wanted to call out and tell him to be careful, but he raised a hand and gave her a nod, as if he already knew. Jack watched them exchange looks and he moved closer to Kate, snaking an arm around her waist and turning her towards him, locking eyes with her before kissing her gently, their legs tangling in the effort to keep afloat.

"I love seeing you with him," he told her softly, not unaware that the words took them both back to another little boy Kate had assured him was now safely with his mother. An assurance neither wanted to question.

Kate pushed a hand into his hair, just thick and long enough for her to take hold of as she touched her lips to his a second time, this time exploring his mouth tenderly as his hands slipped up the wet shirt that floated against her skin. "Jack…" she started.

Her words were interrupted by the familiar rapid fire hisses of a smoke monster they hadn't seen in years and Kate turned just as Max jumped towards them, swimming as fast as his body could carry him. He climbed on her back and they swam to shore, careful against the rocks. Pushing her feet into her shoes, Kate gestured to her jeans and Jack grabbed them, putting a hand against Max's back, ushering them into the jungle.

"What is it?" The boy whispered into her ear.

"It's a monster," she replied, stepping over a trunk.

"Kate," Jack said her name quickly, his head whipping to the side where he thought he saw a person dart between two trees.

"I saw," she asserted.

"What is it?" Max repeated, his chest rising and falling rapidly against Kate's back.

She could feel his heartbeat against her, frightened and she kissed the arms that were wrapped around her neck, touching his hands with her own before whispering back at him, "It's ok baby, just hold on."

"We need to move," Jack warned, pushing them forward again.

The jungle erupted in shouts and Jack and Kate sprinted in opposite directions, both knowing to meet back at the caves as soon as it was safe. Kate let her hands slide down, gripping tree trunks to keep her steady through the rough terrain and she could hear Max grunt as they landed after a hard jump. She tried to steady her breathing, tried to remain calm, but a spear whizzed past her right arm, barely missing them.

Max shouted and she stumbled, falling hard onto her face, but scrambling to get to her feet just as fast. She could feel them surrounding her as she grabbed hold of Max's dazed body and hugged him to her chest. He pushed his face into her shoulder and she could feel him crying in terror.

There were men. Men with spears and wooden shields and they formed a circle, maybe ten of them, and as Kate stood and turned, taking in their faces, seeing the wildness there, she put a hand on Max's head, trying her best to protect him. One man with dark curls peppered with silver gave a shout for them to be taken and Kate closed her eyes, falling to her knees, but instead of feeling the forceful hands of strangers, she felt a wind whip around them and heard the shouts of the men who had been chasing them.

She chanced to open her eyes and her breath caught in her throat.

It was all around them, circling them wildly, growing larger and pulsing outward in every direction. Max started to lift his head, but Kate held it down, watching the smoke around them come apart behind them and whip around to race off in front of them. She could hear the men screaming in horror and she put a shaky hand against the ground, standing slowly and starting to move backwards, into the jungle. Max shouted and she turned, looking into the face of a young man peering out from behind a nearby tree. He gestured towards her to follow him, but Kate remained frozen in place holding Max to her tightly.

The man waved his arm again, "Come quickly, before they return," he urged.

She considered, chancing a glance over her shoulder to the now still jungle behind her, and then walked towards the man cautiously. "Who are you?"

"My name is Thomas and those people, they were my crew." He lowered his eyes to the ground. "They will return; they've been watching you for some time."

"Watching us?" Kate spat, feeling the temperature in her chest rise. "Who are you?"

He gestured into the jungle and Kate watched another man and two young women join him. "We are all that are left of the crew of The Black Rock."

*

They took her to a small camp only a few miles from the caves and Kate glanced down at the boy asleep on her shoulder. Sitting on rocks and sighing with relief, they waited, watching as Kate surveyed the area. They had made shelters of rocks, bamboo and palm fronds and used vines to tie them together. She could see they had shields and spears similar to the men who had surrounded her and she turned to look at Thomas as he looked towards the items.

"We started out together – the men in the jungle and us – but they began to go mad."

One of the women waved her over, "You can lay him down, rest your arms."

"I'm good," Kate responded, eyeing her light hair and weak smile.

She looked to the other woman, one with olive skin and dark eyes who sat next to the second man with similar complexions, but she knew from the way they sat and spoke quietly between themselves, the way she caressed his hand and the way he smiled despite himself, that they were husband and wife. Thomas gave her a short nod and took a step back, a hand outstretched towards the woman who had spoken to her, "This is Emily," his arm moved to the other duo, quietly discussing what had happened, "And they are Maria and John."

"When did you get here?" Kate asked, taking a step back to lean against a tree, feeling Max stir against her.

Maria gave her a nod, "Six years ago, at least. Our ship washed up…"

"In the middle of the jungle," Kate finished for her. "How did it get there? How long have you known about us?"

John shrugged, looking up to Thomas as he spoke, his voice solemn, "We were in a storm and then we weren't. Some thought it was witchcraft; others thought we had died, landed in purgatory."

"We've known about you for years, but our camps were separated by the hunting grounds of that thing back there." Thomas swallowed and exchanged looks with Emily. "Do you know what it is?"

She huffed a laugh and shifted Max to her other hip, heard him mumble something about the horses in the stable that made her lose her thoughts for a moment before looking back up at the foursome. "We don't know what it is any more than you do." She added, "We stay away from it."

They all shared a simple quiet laugh before all their eyes fell to the ground. Emily picked at the rock between her legs. "You've lost people to it as well."

Kate nodded. "A long time ago…" the words trailed when she realized if these people were from The Black Rock, and it had 'landed' on the Island only years before, they were actually in the past. She swallowed. "What year is it?"

Maria and John both laughed and she responded, "1851."

"You're not from 1851," Thomas said quickly, and then he turned to John. "I told you, this place is some kind of rubbish dump for things lost in time."

"That's ridiculous!" John spat. "You're trying to fool with us to escape."

"She's not our prisoner," Emily corrected, "She can leave whenever she pleases." Then she turned, "Not that it would matter, Magnus and his men are probably at your camp awaiting your return."

Kate turned swiftly, "Jack," and she started to move, but Thomas stopped her.

"He's either already captured or he's hiding in the jungle."

"We have to go back, we have to find him!"

"Mommy?" Max questioned sleepily from her shoulder. He raised his head slightly and she could feel his grip tighten on her neck when he saw the others standing there. "Mommy?" He asked again.

"Was he born here?" Emily asked curiously.

Kate took another step towards the jungle feeling her eyes burn slightly before she turned. "I'm going to find him, you can help me or…" she trailed knowing she had no real command over these people. She didn't even trust these people. "I'm going to find him."

*

Jack dropped Kate's jeans on a boulder and pressed his hands into his knees as he reached the caves looking around wildly. He called out her name before starting to grab some things to shove into sacks they'd made from luggage that had floated to the island. He waited, hearing the birds quiet as the sun began to set and when he heard a rustling in the brush he stood and squinted out into the jungle.

"Kate?"

He stumbled backwards as the men broke through the tree line, staring him down, but just one approached. The man who had ordered them to be captured earlier at the waterfall. He smiled and moved towards Jack, looking around before he sighed, "We have to talk," and raised his spear quickly, connecting with Jack's cheek roughly, sending him to the ground, unconscious.


	5. Chapter 04 – Consequences and Conception

Chapter 04 – Consequences and Conception

(154 Years After)

Something exploded just above their heads and Kate ducked down, feeling Jack move closer to protect her. All they had was Richard's word that this was the right thing to do. Richard's word that everything would be alright if they went down into the Orchid, through an incomplete chamber, down a just started elevator shaft, through a frozen rocky hallway, to a giant wheel stuck in a wall.

And give it a turn to the left.

It wasn't rational, Kate argued with them, standing beside them as Richard detailed what they had to do, explained that he didn't know what would happen to them, to whoever turned the wheel, but that everyone on the island would return to where they should be – not on the island. Widmore and his men were approaching and Kate went with Jack because she didn't see another option. Charles Widmore would certainly kill them, but turning a frozen wheel?

"We have to move faster, before they figure out we're down here," Jack whispered.

"What if this doesn't work?" She watched him shake his head, knew what he was thinking.

It had to work.

He put a hand on her shoulder, let it slide down to her elbow and he gave her a gentle push, walking behind her through the hallway that was coated in snow and icicles. Kate wrapped her arms around herself and Jack huddled closer as they entered the room with the giant wheel that made Jack look away, the temptation to laugh greater than the sense of urgency in the pit of his stomach.

"A wheel in a wall," Kate said, "I don't understand what this is supposed to accomplish."

Jack moved closer to it, his hands resting on two of the arms as he turned back to her. "You should go."

"What?!" Kate shouted in disbelief.

"If this backfires, if something goes wrong, you shouldn't be here," Jack told her, shaking his head. "Go find Ben, he'll keep you safe."

Just as he started to move the wheel, she leapt forward, catching his arm and lifting it, moving to stand in front of him and replacing his arm at her side, on the wheel. She pressed her palms into the ice-cold wood in front of her, feeling the warmth from Jack behind her. "No," she told him sternly. "Whatever happens, happens to us both."

"Kate…" Jack started, his breath a cloud of smoke floating over her head.

"Push the damned wheel, Jack," she urged, digging her feet into the ground and feeling the object in her hand start to nudge forward. Jack's chest pressed into her back as he joined her, pushing the wheel forward and as they reached the rock wall the chamber filled with bright light and Jack wrapped his arms around Kate, feeling her fingers curl around his forearms and they closed their eyes, ready for whatever came next.

Together.

*

The sun was blinding and she could feel his body underneath her, not moving. Kate turned quickly, her right knee planting between his legs, her left beside his waist, as she pressed her hands to his cheeks, giving him a small shake before she felt herself start to tremble. "Jack, Jack please…" she pleaded.

She could see they were on the beach, on the beach where they first met, under the mangrove trees just beside the shallow waters in rocky pools. Letting her hands rest on his shoulders, she laid her head on his chest, starting to sob when she felt the stillness there. She screamed into him, shifting to straddle him, and her body shook with tears as she raised a fist and slammed it into his body.

He gasped and her head snapped up, staring down wide eyed and red faced as he focused on her, half smiled and said, plainly, "Kate?"

Pulling his shirt into her hands, she caught his lips in one swift movement, closing her eyes and reveling in the feel of his hands sliding over her waist to rest against her back as his tongue twirled around hers deliciously. "Don't you ever leave me," she breathed into him. "Ever," she repeated, touching her forehead to his before kissing him again, wanting to get lost in the relief she was feeling.

Jack hugged her to him; let her cry just a little longer before he forced her up. They went to the beach, to where they'd crashed the first time and found nothing. No camps or Dharma containers, just an uninhibited jungle teasing the edges of a pristine beach.

"Where do you think they all are?" Kate asked, feeling his hand surrounding hers as they stood with the sun beating down against their backs.

He shook his head. "Gone."

"What do you mean, gone?"

"I don't know, Kate, but it looks like we've never been here." He turned to look at her. "Maybe turning the wheel was like running an eraser over a chalkboard."

"I thought it was supposed to boot us off the island?"

Jack's eyes squinted off into the horizon. "Maybe this time it had the opposite effect."

"Booted everyone else off?"

He looked down at her. "Maybe they're still here, who knows." Jack touched her cheek with his free hand, moved the free flowing hair back behind her ear and laughed when a wind whipped it back around into her face. "They'd come to the beach," he assured her, beginning to walk through the soft sand. He forgot what it felt like to have it seep through his socks and squish between his toes.

Kate walked beside him, and every so often they shouted the name of those who had remained. They stayed closer to the water than the jungle, feeling their skin growing tighter the longer they moved in the sun and by the time it started to fall down towards the horizon, turning the sky a pinkish hue, they were exhausted and back where they had begun.

"We need to find a place to make shelter."

Kate nodded and she walked back towards the jungle, feeling her hand slip out of his grasp. She looked back at him, at his curious expression and she smiled, "The caves…" she sighed, pointing into the jungle.

Jack raised an eyebrow and began walking towards her. "I thought you said you didn't want to be Eve."

She waited until he stood in front of her and she smiled. "I changed my mind."

The caves were unlike they'd ever seen them. Even when Kate had first set eyes on them, they'd had dolls, a few pieces of the plane thrown about and it seemed like there was less overgrowth. The entrance to the caves was half covered in long vines that created a curtain to the inside, and the water seemed to rush stronger alongside them.

Kate touched Jack's arm before he could move forward, smiled weakly when he turned. "What if we're the only ones left?" She inhaled, and then rephrased, "What if we're the only ones here?"

He placed his hands on her arms, rubbed them and gave her a nod. "We'll keep searching – a little bit each day – everywhere it's safe." He looked back at the caves. "You need to rest, Kate, you have to be exhausted."

"I'm actually not tired," she told him, playing with the edges of his shirt, looking up at him with a devious smirk he recognized and matched. Standing on tip-toe, Kate nudged his nose with her own; his breath teased her lips and his hands rested on her hips as they connected, feeling the stress of the day starting to wash away.

He pulled her shirt over her head and cupped the back of her head in his palm, pulling her back into him, his other hand kneading the flesh at her waist. She moaned, undoing the button on his jeans and then sliding the zipper down slowly, feeling his lips break from hers to breath roughly over her bottom lip. Jack stepped back, watched her slip out of her pants as he kicked his aside with his underwear, his hand stroking the beginnings of an erection as she undid the clasp of her bra to add it to the pile.

Kate walked towards him, let her hands run up and down his chest as she sucked lightly on his bottom lip, feeling his hand working faster, knuckles brushing her stomach until she dropped her hands down, stopping him. He buried his face in her shoulder when she pushed his hands aside and took hold of him, knowing – from years of experience with him – exactly what made him see stars and he grunted roughly before beginning to nip at her neck up to her earlobe. He took it between his teeth and she froze as he let it slip out slowly, his hot breath sending shivers down her spine.

They drifted backwards, through the vines, into the darkness, where he laid her gently on the light covering of moss and vines on the ground, letting his knuckles brush against the bare skin at her side and up to tease her nipples, hardened with arousal. She reached out, ran her hands over his hair, just barely long enough for her to take hold, and she pulled him down atop her, kissing him passionately as his cock lay hot against her belly.

He slipped a finger between her thighs and she breathed his name into his ear, shifting her legs apart, rubbing her right foot against his thigh as she bucked up into his touch. Jack worked two digits into her, feeling the wet folds hugging his flesh, begging to be entered and he nudged her nose with his, resting his head on hers before kissing her softly, feeling her smile against his lips as she adjusted herself for him and waited.

Jack's hand left her and moved up and down the shaft of his penis once before pressing himself against her clit, descending painfully slow until he pushed into her, hearing her sigh aloud against his chin. He rocked in and out of her, his eyes clasped shut as his body reveled in the feel of her muscles embracing him and he heard himself starting to grunt in rhythm with the sound of their flesh colliding.

Kate bucked up into him, unabashedly calling for him to dig deeper as her nails scraped over his back and Jack obliged, letting more of his weight rest on her as he pumped into her, his hands brushing her hair back so he could kiss her again, finding her lips, her cheeks, her neck – burning flesh against his moist lips – where she moaned aloud, tightening her thighs on his waist and his body jerked in reaction.

He scooped her up into his arms, pulling her close to him as he rocked back, bending his legs so he sat on his knees and she kissed at him, blanketing him with her hair as she worked her own rhythm, her thighs using his to balance as she hugged her arms around his shoulders. Jack heard the guttural sounds escaping his lips, could feel in his stomach that he was close to coming, and he could feel the way she was beginning to pulse around him.

She cried out, her head falling back as his fell forward, against her chest, and her body pressed down atop him, his cock buried deep inside her as they came together. Jack breathed hard against her breasts, felt her rest her chin on his head as her body relaxed, throbbing around him as he jerked slightly into her. She laughed softly and shifted back slightly so he could look up at her.

"Now," she breathed, "I'm exhausted."

They laughed together, holding each other, listening to the crickets and frogs and the wind in the trees. They vowed to start their search up bright and early the next day, but despite their assurances to one another that they would find anyone else still on the island, they were secretly more than content being the only inhabitants.

*

Jack woke, felt the throbbing in his head, knew there was blood encrusting the side of his face and he moved his jaw, testing it painfully before opening his eyes. He was in a cave, one he didn't recognize and when he tried to move around he found himself tied, hands and feet in front of him, and he rolled over, lying on his back to stare up at the ceiling of the cave, seeing the rocks that jutted out from there.

He breathed in, coughing out, and found himself staring up into the face of a man with wild dark hair and eyes who nodded at him and left. "Wait," Jack uttered.

"Good," came a voice from several feet away. "You're awake."

"Where am I?" Jack asked calmly, closing his eyes and letting his hands rest against his stomach. He winced and looked down to see the vines tying his hands there.

"You are in our humble abode," said the man, walking towards him. It was the man with the peppered curls. He knelt next to him, poked him with the tip of a spear and then pointed towards the back of the cave. "We found a pile of dead bodies back there."

Jack didn't budge.

"Did you put them there?"

"No," he told him simply.

"Who did?"

"I don't know."

"Are there other people on this island, besides your family?"

Jack turned to look past him, could see the light where the cave opened out to the jungle.

"We don't have them, don't worry." His words were honest and he grabbed Jack's bound hands, pulling him up into a sitting position, not letting go until Jack had steadied himself on the hard ground. "That smoke came, it probably has them now."

Swallowing hard, Jack tried to imagine that they were fine, but he knew what that smoke could do. "Who are you?"

"Magnus Hanso," he replied, starting to put out his hand until he chuckled and replaced it on his waist. "And this is my island," he added.

"Your island," Jack laughed. "Everyone wants this island," he muttered.

"There ARE others here," Magnus stated plainly, touching the spear to Jack's chin.

"There WERE others here," Jack corrected. "Where did you come from anyways? How long have you been here?"

The man considered, touching his fingers to his chin as he started to pace the ground in front of Jack. "Where we came from is of no concern to you, neither is how long we've been here." He stopped. "We've reason to believe there might be a treasure here of immeasurable size."

"Treasure," Jack repeated incredulously.

"We've explored this island, found temples, but we can't gain access."

Jack breathed in and pressed his lips together. "You'll die before you go into those temples."

"What do you know of them?"

"It's where the black smoke lives now. We've been there, been warned to stay away." Jack shook his head. "There aren't any treasures inside."

Magnus nodded at him shortly. "You, sir, are either a liar, or a fool."

Jack smiled. "I'm no liar."

He could see the man's face fluster, watched his fists curl over before he turned and walked towards the entrance of the cave. "If he tries to escape, kill him!"

*

Kate walked through the jungle absently and she knew it. She could feel her heart hammering in her chest as she made her way deeper and deeper into the jungle, towards places she knew she shouldn't be. The 'Dark Territory' lay between where she stood and Jack, according to the crew of the Black Rock who hadn't gone insane, and the rest of the crew who had gone insane were on the other side.

"Great, just have to get past the smoke monster, a dozen crazy guys, and…" she breathed in, frustrated.

"Then what?" Max asked.

Looking back at him, where he walked patiently behind her, she sighed, "What."

"After we get past the smoke monster and a dozen crazy guys, what do we do?"

Kate shook her head. "You won't do anything."

"Aren't we going to save dad?" He asked, his head cocking to the side curiously. When Kate nodded, Max shrugged, "Then I'm going to help you."

She wanted to laugh; a five and a half year old boy would help her against at least ten grown men. Instead she felt a tear roll over her cheek as she realized it was useless. Kate continued walking. Her eyes remained focused on the jungle in front of her; her ears on her son's footsteps behind her. What would they do when they got there? Could she somehow distract ten men and save Jack? Would he be able to fend any of them off on his own?

Would he be alive?

"He's fine, mom," Max uttered as he hoisted himself over a fallen log. "You don't have to worry. I'll cause a diversion and when they come after me you can get dad. I run pretty fast, you think it all the time, they won't catch me."

Moving around a tree trunk, she stopped and turned, watching Max walk around the same trunk, his arms held out as he balanced along the roots that jutted out of the ground. He stopped suddenly and looked up at her, seeing her eyes studying him. "I think it all the time," she repeated.

Max looked away and pushed his lips together and then pouted them out, his mind working over what he might tell her to explain away his words, but when he looked back up at her he asked, "Don't you know what I'm thinking too?"

Kate fell back onto a stump and held out her arms, waiting until Max walked forward and took her hands. He stood between her thighs, staring down at his small hands in hers as she touched her forehead to his. "You think this is like a game," she told him unexpectedly.

Swallowing, Max nodded. "It's not a game, is it," he said matter-of-factly.

No, baby, it isn't.


	6. Chapter 05 – Plans of Attack

Chapter 05 – Plans of Attack

"We've been here three years!" Someone shouted as they stood around the fire. "That monster has taken five more men into the jungle; we need to stop exploring and get OFF this island already, Magnus. Build a boat and leave!"

It was night and they huddled together, shivering in the wind that penetrated the caves. Emily sat in a corner listening. They'd had this fight weekly for three years and for three years it ended the same way. They'd come to blows, Magnus standing triumphantly over the man who dared go against him. And they'd keep exploring.

They'd heard voices, that of a man and a woman, and a child's laughter.

Some said it was a trick of the wind, a trick of this island – a place they knew now was more than just a rock in the middle of the ocean. Their wounds healed miraculously fast and they'd never faced a day of sickness in the entire time they'd been there. It wasn't normal, not for their lifetimes.

"Magnus, we should build the boat," Emily said softly as he retreated to the back of the cave, his fists bloodied, the groans of the man who had defied him muffled by the men who carried him out of the cave to where they would wash his face and let him rest.

"Build a boat," he mocked. "We built a boat. Two men left, a week later, they returned on what was left of it with tales of a statue with four toes and how no matter which direction they headed out in, they returned to the island. There's no point in building a boat."

"Maybe if we all left, together," she offered.

Magnus lowered his eyes to the ground, took a rag from the ground, a scrap of the clothing the dead had worn – dead they had stripped of their weapons, shields, and clothes to put to good use, bodies that remained in a shallow grave at the end of the cave as a reminder – and wiped his knuckles clean. "We need to explore this island. Conquer this island. Only then will we be able to leave."

"Conquer the island, Magnus," Emily laughed. "Conquer the island? It's nothing more than a heap of dirt."

He turned to face her. "It is more than that and you know it." Magnus shook his head. "We will find the people who live here, we will defeat them and they will tell us the secrets of this island and we will leave to return with supplies to live here."

"There are no other people living here."

"There are temples, Emily, and statues… and we've heard them, seen the smoke of their fires. They live across the dark places where that monster lives. They know how to tame that beast, to get to those temples." Magnus wiped his brow. "I bet there's treasure there, beyond anything any of us have seen."

"We should build another boat."

Magnus back handed her, standing above her, his eyes wide, brow lowered as he clenched his fists. "I've tolerated your whims long enough, woman. We will continue to make our way around this trench that stands between us and the people on this island until we find a way through."

He moved away and Emily held her hand to her cheek, the sting still radiating out from the point of contact. One of the men approached quietly, handing her a mango before sitting next to her. Emily looked into Maria's eyes and nodded her appreciation.

"We should build the boat, leave this place," Maria offered.

"You need to remain silent, if they were to discover you've been hiding amongst them…" Emily shuddered to think what they'd do. She'd seen the way the men looked at her over the years, had been held down against the ground by men who sought to rape her only to be saved by Magnus. Magnus couldn't keep tabs on two women, especially not one who would be seen as a traitor. Especially not with his demeanor changing.

Most of the men had begun changing, becoming more savage. Wild. As though the possibilities of finding riches on this island, because of the island itself, they'd been driven them mad.

*

Kate felt her legs starting to sway underneath her and she cried out as she fell to her knees, the boy in her arms moaning in his sleep as she laid him down against the ground and slumped next to him. She had no idea where she was going and nothing but her heart to lead her, but her stomach argued with her and the muscles in her back and thighs screamed for rest.

She'd been walking aimlessly for over a day, stopping only to pull fruit from a tree for Max, carrying him through the night so she could cover more ground. Maybe, she thought, if she found their camp while they slept, she could catch them by surprise, slip Jack out before they even noticed he was gone.

Her eyes shut and tears spilled over as her body shut itself down, forcing her to drop into a deep sleep.

"We should never have let them leave," Emily lamented, moving closer to the two bodies. She knelt down to touch Kate's forehead. "Maria… she's burning up."

The other woman approached with a rag that she dampened with water from her canteen. "Do you think we should move them? The monster could be around."

John shook his head. "You saw the way it surrounded them."

Thomas nodded, "It was protecting them."

Licking her lips, Maria questioned, "And you don't think the monster might see us as a threat to them, just as it thought Magnus was a threat to them."

"We're not a threat," Thomas asserted, sitting against a log near Max. "Why do you suppose it protected them, all it's done is attack us?"

Emily looked to the boy. "He was born here."

*

They built a fire when the sun settled under the horizon and Kate stirred, pushing up on her elbows and looking quickly to her side when she heard Max laugh loudly. Thomas was holding a book in his lap, was drawing fervently, his tongue pressed between his lips, as the boy next to him pointed and grinned.

"He's drawing cartoons for him," Emily told her with a smile. Continuing when Kate looked back up at her, "He woke not long after you fell asleep. Maria and John went to gather some fruit, get some fresh water from the stream. We're not far from your caves."

"How long was I out?" Kate asked, her hand coming up to remove the damp cloth from her forehead before sitting up to rub her temples. "How long…"

"A few hours, you needed the rest," Thomas offered. "And yes, we've been following you."

"We're going to help you," John told her as he moved closer to the fire, tossing a guava fruit towards Thomas. "We know where their camp is."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kate demanded.

Maria huffed, "You left."

Lowering her eyes to the ground, Kate found herself feeling foolish as Emily handed her a canteen with water. She took a long drink, closing her eyes to the feel of the cool liquid travelling down her throat and she turned when she felt the small hands tap her shoulder. Max smiled down at her. "They've got a plan of attack."

"Plan," Kate looked towards Thomas, who walked towards her, flipping back several pages in his book.

He showed her drawings he had made of a set of ruins she thought she recognized from a long time ago, or a long time into the future. "The temple, if Max can lure them there – and they will come, they think it's filled with treasures – the monster will take care of them for us."

Shaking her head, Kate proclaimed, "I'll lure them. You'll keep Max safe."

"But the smoke protects the boy," Maria pointed. "It protects the boy."

Kate touched Max's hair as he knelt next to her. "I'll be fine, mommy."

Swallowing, she shook her head. "No, I'll lure them. Whatever happens to me… it doesn't matter."

"Mommy…" Max's voice trailed and she could see his eyes starting to brim with tears. He shook his head. "I'm fast, I can do this."

Kate closed her eyes, pulled him into a hug where she could feel his heart hammering in his chest at the mere thought of losing her. She looked up at Thomas and gave him a nod. "Ok, we do this your way."


	7. Chapter 06 – Searching for Treasure

Chapter 06 – Searching for Treasure

(Six Years Ago)

They walked absently through the jungle, more out of routine than of actual searching. In truth they'd given up searching months ago. They were sure if any of their people were still on the island, they'd either be at the beach or at the caves – some place they recognized – but they'd seen no one. Kate hummed lightly, her hand resting atop her stomach as she moved around a fallen tree trunk.

Jack watched her, smiled in spite of the pain in his feet and the worry in his heart. "You singing to her?"

Her cheeks reddened, caught, and she grinned at him, nodding before saying, "He likes this song."

"He," Jack repeated, shaking his head as he sat atop a stone.

Kate touched the sides of her belly and walked towards him, standing in front of him and she reached forward, taking his hands to place them against her. She sang softly, "Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, never let it fade away, catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, save it for a rainy day…"

Below his hands, something shifted, thumped softly, steadily, and Jack laughed, looking up at Kate with reddened eyes before wiping away a tear. He sighed and pulled Kate into his lap, replacing one hand curved under her belly, meeting the fingertips of her own hand on the other side.

"My dad sang that to me when I was a kid, or at least, that's what mom tells me," he told her, watching the way she searched his eyes before smiling.

"I sang it to Aaron, when he was a baby. It seemed to calm him down," she shrugged. "It's weird, you know, I'm sure mom sang it around the house – when she wasn't listening to Patsy Cline – but I didn't even think I knew the words."

He kissed her softly, feeling her arms come up around his neck and in her belly she could feel the thumping growing stronger, strong enough for her to pull away and press a hand down against it as Jack looked down, frightened. "What's wrong?"

"He's kicking hard," Kate told him, eyebrows coming down as she watched her stomach. "Jack, it's too early…" she started, but her voice cut off when she heard it approaching.

They stood, turning to see they were just outside the ruins and from each crack and crevice, it was slowly sliding out, connecting into a large dark cloud in front of them. They could see flashes inside, among the swirling black arms that folded in on themselves before reaching outward, expanding as they started to move backwards. Kate shielded her belly as best she could and the smoke in front of her seemed to pulse forward in rhythm with the kicks at her side.

Jack took her by the upper arm, his fingers pressed tightly into her flesh, urging her to move, but for a moment she was transfixed, staring up into the smoke as it spread up into the air, the clinking and rapid fire hissing so loud she couldn't hear him calling her name, could barely feel him tugging at her. She swallowed, stepping back towards him, back into the jungle where they broke into a run towards the caves, listening intently for the sounds of trees being ripped up behind them.

But it was silent.

The whole night was silent by the time they reached their home and Kate collapsed into an exhausted heap against the cave wall just inside, listening to Jack breathing roughly beside her. She could almost feel his mind racing through doubts and questions – wondering what might have happened. Wondering what DID just happen. She could feel his eyes on her, but she concentrated on the child inside of her. On the gently and steady rolling underneath her fingertips, as though he were perfectly content

*

(Six Years Later)

Max peered over the mass of rotted wood and leaves he was hiding behind. He stared into their camp, at the fires that had died out over the course of the night while they slept. He scanned the faces of the men there, their ragged bodies and tattered clothing. They looked sick, he decided, and he knew why – this wasn't their island, wasn't their place to be.

They couldn't exist here.

He moved slowly at first, his steps against the ground careful and silent and he chanced a glance backwards at his mother and their new friends – people who's faces still held buoyancy and light, who still looked alive, because they were supposed to be there helping them. Max took several long breaths, and watched an older man with curled pepper colored hair emerge from the cave.

Magnus. Thomas had warned them about him. He was the captain of the Black Rock, and the most dangerous man in the group. Swallowing, Max lifted his body quietly over a dead log and landed at the edge of the jungle that encircled the edge of the small clearing they'd made at the entrance to the cave. He mapped out his route with his mother just before the sun broke that morning. Knew exactly where he had to go, where Maria and John would be hiding with spears of their own – ones they'd had to make to hunt and protect themselves when they left the group.

They'd been exiled because Maria had broken rules. It was actually a sane break in the madness of slaughtering pigs for sport and breaking into fights amongst one another. Max didn't understand it; he supposed he wouldn't for a very long time. Until then he chose to nod and he told Maria that morning, with a hand on her shoulder, that she was alright to him. She handed him a small knife, something he knew she'd been travelling with – something he knew she'd had to protect herself – and he thanked her before they moved out.

He walked into the camp, close enough to be just out of reach from the nearest man and he waited, breathing calmly until Magnus turned to eye him. "Let my dad go," he told the man, feeling the winds pick up around him, felt his mother's faith in him, giving him courage.

"You're brave, boy," the man replied, and the men around the camp fire stirred, staring up at him wide-eyed.

"Please, sir," he started, swallowing and keeping his eyes trained on Magnus. "Just let my dad go."

"Where's your mother?" Magnus asked, and they both remained still when Jack started to shout out from inside the cave, telling him to run.

Not yet, dad, Max thought to himself. "She's waiting for you in the jungle."

Magnus laughed. His right hand pushed into his side as he nodded. "That so, son." He took a step forward. "Then she'll be more inclined to help me once she sees I have you."

Max shrugged. "Help you what?"

"Max," Kate breathed, feeling her grip on the spear she held tighten.

Magnus pointed out into the jungle. "There are temples in the jungle. What's inside?"

"I don't know," Max told him honestly. "Mommy says to stay away from them."

"She knows what's inside, doesn't she, boy."

"Yes," Max admitted. "She says it's where monsters live."

The men started to stand as Magnus's hand left his waist and clutched a small knife at his side. "Monsters guard treasure."

The boy considered and something about what he said rang true, but he knew if this man knew what he knew, he'd understand the treasure wasn't in the temple. Max nodded his head towards the jungle. "So you want to go to the temple? I'll take you to the temple."

"It's a trick," a man declared. "He's a trickster! We'll DIE if we follow him."

But Max didn't allow them time to think on it any longer. He turned and dashed into the jungle, just fast enough for them to follow quickly, shouting behind him.

Kate pushed off the ground and leapt over the rock she'd been hiding behind. She dashed through the jungle and hopped over a broken tree trunk before falling and rolling into a stand just at the edge of the clearing. She breathed, looking out into the jungle to where she could barely hear the cries of the men who chased her son and she swallowed hard, hoping Maria, John and Emily would be able to protect him.

*

He could feel the wind blowing his hair back, cooling the sweat at his back and he smiled, pushing his legs to move faster as he rounded a tree and jumped over a stream. A moment later he heard someone scream out behind him and he did what his mother had told him the night before – he didn't look back.

*

Emily threw a spear, heard it embed itself into a tree and she reached down at her feet for the pile of rocks they'd set there. She grabbed two, tossing them out over the boulder she stood behind, the first knocked against other rocks; the second cracked against someone's head and she listened as their body splashed down into the small stream there.

It wasn't long before they had stopped their chase and had turned their attention to her. She took hold of two other rocks and held them tightly in her hands, standing perfectly still until she heard another man scream out in pain and when she looked, she could see the tip of Maria's spear jutting out of one of the crewmember's chests. She closed her eyes, moved back behind the rock.

*

Kate walked towards the cave slowly, the spear held steady. She heard Jack call out her name as a warning and she immediately braced her legs for the attack coming. A younger man with blonde shaggy hair came out of the cave with a spear of his own and he swung it at her, laughing when she shouted and ducked away. Their spears cracked when they connected and Kate pushed his aside, giving his shoulder a good whack, sending him to the ground.

He rolled and got up in a crouching position and he eyed her with a sickening lust – one she recognized from her youth – a moment before lunging, just barely catching her left arm, slicing a line four inches long and half an inch deep.

"So she bleeds," the man murmured to no one and Jack shouted out her name again.

She could hear him struggling and she ignored the pain at her side as she clenched her teeth and fended off another attack. Their spears collided again and held steady in the air. Kate could feel the muscles of her arms screaming and she knew his strength would overpower her. She winced when it did, falling onto her back and she shifted, grunting as she pushed the spear up into his chest just as his ripped over her right cheek and cracked into the ground beside her.

Kate pushed him aside, felt his spear tap its way against her body until it lay on the ground beside her. She stood and watched him take his last breath before she turned and ran into the cave, falling to her knees at Jack's side to untie his hands and feet. His right hand touched the torn fabric at her arm as his left thumb brushed lightly over the slash on her face and he looked into her eyes wildly.

"Where's Max?"

*

John followed Magnus, who continued to pursue the boy towards the temple. He watched the older man look back at him in shock before forcing himself to move faster. Ahead of them John could see Max, moving at a speed John had never seen any person move before, as though nothing on this earth could slow him down, and he knew they were approaching the ruins too fast.

They were supposed to have stopped them at the brook.

Using a rock as leverage, John leapt forward, landing hard on the captain's back, hearing him cry out as they tumbled to the ground.

"John!" Max cried.

He barely got Magnus turned over before he felt the sharp edge of a knife dig into his gut and he stared down at the man underneath him, at the wild smile that spread across his face as he twisted his hand and John felt the blood filling his lung. He coughed, sputtering blood into the older man's face before being pushed away. Magnus's arm shot out, catching Max by the throat and he stood, lifting him off the ground.

"Brave, but still so innocent," Magnus declared, punching Max across the face and feeling his body go limp.


	8. Chapter 07 – Separation Anxiety

Chapter 07 – Separation Anxiety

(One Year Ago)

"He's a woman!"

The shout was half shock, half pleased and it worried Emily as she stood from the log she'd been sitting and took a step towards those on the beach who were surrounding Maria. The other woman's shirt had been torn open and was hanging loosely against her body, her breasts exposed to the mid-day sun and the man in front of her stood with his mouth agape, staring.

John pushed through the men to stand in front of his wife as she pushed the clothing back across her bosom, and he swung out, punching the first to come near them before pulling the knife out of his belt and held it out defensively, Maria behind him doing the same. Emily walked closer, her feet digging into the sand as she locked eyes with the other woman.

Magnus wiped at his brow and pushed off the side of the small boat they'd been building. "Easy men, easy," he said softly and Emily could see the exhaustion on his face overpowering the need to be lustful. He'd had his way with her already, the consequences of which lay in a shallow grave in the jungle – stillborn after six months – his fault as well.

Thomas put a hand on Emily's shoulder. "You need your rest, Emily," he told her plainly, his eyebrows rising with the corners of his mouth. He'd come to care for her, she knew, and unlike the rest of the men, his eyes still held compassion, humanity.

"They'll kill her."

"They won't," he assured her quietly. "They're too tired, haven't eaten in a day's time building this boat."

Turning, they watched John and Maria back away from the circle of men, towards the edge of the jungle. John looked about at their faces and he spat, "She's my wife! The man who lays one finger on her body will lose his life."

His words did little to detract the crowd. Except Magnus, who stepped forward. "She could be put to death herself for her deception."

With a short nod, John informed them, "Then I should be put to death as well. I planned to leave this crew when we arrived at port."

Magnus laughed. "Leave…" he trailed. He walked closer, put a hand up to signal the men to back down and Emily stood again, taking Thomas's hand. "You may leave then," he gestured towards the jungle. "Begin this new life with your wife, but John," he lowered his head just enough to make him look as menacingly as Emily knew he could be. "If I see you again, I will kill you myself."

Maria took hold of John's shirt and tugged at him, shifting him closer to the jungle. She exchanged a quick look of sorrow with Emily before hissing, "John, we need to go," and they both disappeared into the jungle.

Thomas lowered his head. "They shouldn't be out there alone."

With a nod, Emily looked towards the men who returned to their work on the boat. "Then we should go too." Raising his eyes to her, she gave him a nod and then looked towards the jungle. "These men are mad and I don't intend to lose any more children, or my life, to their whims."

She watched him inhale and turn to look at the men on the beach before taking a step backwards, a hand protectively against her back as he lead her into the jungle where they met up with John and Maria. The foursome watched those on the beach erupt into wild laughter at some unheard joke and they headed deep into the jungle, into the territory that even these men wouldn't approach.

*

They planned to meet back up at the beach, ready to steal the boat that sat tied to a raggedly made dock. It was large enough to hold ten men with a cargo area that Emily knew was supposed to be for the first piece of a treasure Magnus intended to live off his whole life. He expected to map the route back to the mainland and return at will.

Helping Thomas carry John's body back towards the beach, Emily knew the only thing Magnus would get from this island was death. They laid him down against the sand and Thomas looked up at her, watched her crying silently for a moment before moving closer to her, pulling her into an embrace.

"We'll never leave this place," Emily told him, holding tightly to the material at his chest.

Thomas rested his chin on her head and sighed. "I wish I could tell you that we will, that we'll return to England and live happily ever after, but that's never been the reality." He went silent a moment and then whispered. "But we won't stop trying, Emily, and this place. I've been keeping a journal of the things that are possible in this place and Emily… This place is magic; it's the men who are evil…"

Maria screamed, erupting from the jungle and falling to the ground in front of John, caressing his face and pounding a fist into his chest. Emily moved away from Thomas, bending down beside Maria to hold her and cry with her. They sat as the waves battered the shoreline for several long moments listening to Maria wail until the jungle crackled as Kate emerged with Jack leaning against her, weak from a lack of food and Maria could see on his face that Magnus had beat him.

She felt the woman in her arms leap up and watched her crash into Kate, taking her down onto sandy jungle ground, fists clutching the clothing at Kate's chest. "Because of YOU!"

Her fist swung up, but Thomas and Jack pulled her away, giving Kate enough time to hoist herself off the ground to see John lying dead there. She felt her eyes burning as she shook her head and looked back at Maria, "I'm so sorry," she uttered, her hand rising to her bosom, feeling her heart break for this woman because, as she looked towards Jack, she knew she wouldn't be able to live without him. "Maria, I'm so sorry."

The other woman broke down again, going limp in the arms of the men holding her, and Jack fell away from her, collapsing into the sand with a hand at his brow. Kate moved quickly towards him, letting tears flow freely over her cheeks as Thomas approached with water for him. She glanced back at John, her eyes closing before opening to sweep the area around them.

"Where's Max?" She asked, her voice barely audible over the ocean. She stood, legs shaking and moved closer to the jungle, shouting his name wildly, feeling her heart pounding in her chest.

"He has him," Maria said lowly. "Magnus has him."

Kate pushed back into the jungle, crying out to her son as she moved, but she was quickly stopped. Jack said her name softly, his hand on her shoulder, turning her towards him. He shook his head. "Well find him, Kate, we'll find him together." He breathed harshly, and she could see the dark circles under his eyes, the paleness of his lips, and she nodded, helping him back to the beach as her stomach turned with fear.

They buried John on the beach at sundown and stood side by side at his grave silently, numb. The island was a place where amazing things were possible, Thomas knew, watching Jack comfort Kate as Emily comforted Maria, but he knew amazing things often brought with them terrible men like Magnus. Kate pushed away from Jack, fell over onto the edge of the jungle and Thomas could hear her vomit. The waters had grown calm, but the sky was dark with clouds of an impending storm.

"It'll be ok, Kate, everything will be ok."

Jack's voice carried on the wind and Thomas closed his eyes and said a prayer that he was right.

*

Max stared into the fire and shifted his legs, wincing when the rope that tied his ankles rubbed into his skin harshly. He rested his tied hands against his thighs before sighing loudly, hearing it echo within the cave. They were in a different cave from the one they'd been to before and the men lay snoring along the walls, some of them chuckling in their sleep.

It should have scared him, but it didn't. He bit his bottom lip and watched the way the flames danced around, hearing the man who had taken him approaching, sitting at his side.

"We mean you no harm," he told him calmly.

"I'm not scared of you," Max told him matter-of-factly.

Magnus laughed softly. "That so?"

Max picked up one of several spare pieces of wood and used it to poke at the fire, giving it new life before looking at the man beside him. He held a canteen of water in his hand and with his other, he rubbed at a sore spot on his knee, staring out past the cave wall. "There's no treasure inside the temple," Max informed him.

"Places like this don't exist without treasure. Gold buried somewhere, jewels in the mountains, something."

He considered a moment before sighing. "You and I don't agree on what treasure actually is, sir."

"What is treasure to you, boy?"

Max shifted, tossing the stick he held onto the fire before looking up at the older man. "My name is Max, not boy."

Magnus nodded, a smile on his face before correcting, "What is treasure to you, Max?"

"My mommy and daddy, the little waterfalls that bring us water, the way the sun shines on the ocean before it sets, and the big tree near home that I'm too little to climb."

Staring down into Max's eyes, Magnus tipped the water towards him, spilling just a little big on the ground before bringing it back up. "The world seen through a child's eyes is a wondrous and naïve thing."

Max shrugged. "You won't find gold or jewels in this place, you know." He added with a sigh, "You'll die trying."

He could see Magnus shiver where he sat, despite the fire nearby. The older man watched him curiously. "One day you'll be a man, Max, and one day you'll understand – without the protection of your innocence – that the world is a much different place than the one you're imagining now."

Max swallowed hard, watching the way the older man's scanned his face and he took a breath. "Tomorrow you'll enter the temple and what YOU will find is that it's a much different place than YOU'RE imagining right now, and you won't have your innocence to protect you."

They stared at one another and Magnus jumped when the fire crackled suddenly, but the boy didn't budge, just pressed his lips together and in the light that danced across his face, Magnus saw the conviction of his words and he could feel his heart starting to hammer as his palms grew sweaty. Standing, he left Max by the fire, eager to breathe the fresh air outside, but when he stood staring at the moon, the only smell he found was death.

*

Jack watched Kate sleeping, laying between his legs, her back rested against his stomach, her head against his chest. He could see the rise and fall of her bosom as she dreamt calmly and it comforted him. Nearby, Thomas sat scribbling in his notebook as the sun started to creep over the horizon. Emily stirred and walked towards him, her hand pressing into his shoulder and he stopped writing to smile up at her.

"You're awake," Thomas exclaimed, standing and pushing his journal into his back pocket. "Did she sleep?"

Nodding, Jack looked down at her. "She finally dozed off a little while after you."

"We'll find Max," Emily told him, her face painted with worry and Jack smiled as best he could.

He could feel Kate shifting and he watched her eyes flutter open, hand pressed firm against her stomach before pushing to sit up. Emily moved quickly for a canteen of water and they watched Kate take several long gulps before looking back towards the jungle. "They're going to the temple today," she proclaimed, standing and wiping at her forehead as she waited.

They all looked towards Maria, who was leaning against a palm tree near where they'd buried John. She held a mango in her hands, half-eaten and watched the boat sway gently in the waters and turned to look at them. "We rescue the boy and then we leave this hell," she spat, standing and tossing the mango aside.

*

(Five Years Ago)

Kate cradled the infant in her arms, watching him swing his left arm out to brush her neck as he suckled against her breast eagerly. She winced, stopping to rest against a tree and she called out Jack's name. Ahead of her, he slowed and turned and he could never hide the smile that snuck up on him every time he saw her with their baby boy.

He shifted the straps of a bright purple backpack he'd deliberately splattered with mud as he walked back towards them, seeing Kate settle herself against the trunk and run her fingers delicately over Max's small head. "You alright?" He asked her, touching her shoulder to get her attention.

She fixated on that small face so often during the day he sometimes thought she might fall, but she never did. Kate held him firmly against her body, stroked his bare arms with her hands and let him take her fingers to study them. She sang to him beautifully, songs that lulled Jack as he fished along the shore, or picked mangoes and guava fruit as they walked in the jungle.

Sometimes she just talked to him. She told him where she was born, told him about the time she stole gum from the store and how wrong it was and how it was the worst tasting gum she'd ever had. She told him about their travels together and how they came to be in this place in this time. And on nights when she thought Jack was asleep, she told him of her failures and how he would be a much better person; that he would learn from her.

Now she looked up at him with sleepy eyes and smiled. "Teeth," was all she said.

Jack laughed, sitting next to her and watching his son. He touched Kate's back and kissed her shoulder, then her lips as the boy released her and began to cry, her shirt falling over his eyes. Kate pulled away from Jack and shifted Max in her arms, watching as he sighed with relief, looking up at her. Jack lifting Max out of her arms and pressed him against his chest, feeling his head lay there comfortably as his arm reached out towards Kate. She kissed his fist and Max gurgled with delight.

Standing, Jack began to move again and he leaned the boy back in his arms, watching him smile swinging his arms around in that uncoordinated way infants do. He could feel his son's small feet pumping at his stomach and Jack adjusted him, carrying him cradled in his own arm as he continued to walk. He placed a large hand over Max's eyes, intent on playing peek-a-boo, but Max shrieked and Jack stopped.

Kate moved past him, chuckling. "He wants to see you, Jack."

"I'm right here," Jack teased him, tickling his belly and wiping a half-formed tear from his bright eyes. They were hazel, just like his mother's, and just like hers they turned a brilliant shade of green when he cried. "I'm right here, Max."

*

The temple was built in the shape of a pyramid and somehow it didn't surprise Kate in the slightest, despite the fact that she'd never actually seen it – only the wall surrounding it. Neither did the smoke that circled out of it slowly, the way it had so many years ago, and she walked closer to it, hand raised to touch the flecks of… something… that floated around in the air of its own accord.

It swirled around her, the way it had in the jungle with Max, but this time she wasn't afraid, she almost felt comforted as it lead her up the steps and through the two large front doors – both made of stone with hieroglyphs she couldn't read, but could somehow understand. This was a sacred place, the source of what made the island special, and very few are invited in.

Kate stepped through the doors that swung open and she moved through the hallway, its walls carved with more symbols and pictures of people who had been here long before this time. People who were banished, never to return.

"Hello?" She called through the monster, feeling someone in the darkness, and a cool wind whipped around her as the smoke dissipated and she was left staring at a figure sitting at the foot of the steps that lead to what looked like two thrones.

"Don't be alarmed," the person told her, and as he stood, torches along the wall lit up, illuminating the space between them and finally, the face of the man that stood there. "There's much I can't explain," he told her softly, "And very little time to explain what it necessary for you to survive."

"Richard?" Kate questioned.

"It's just a face, a face pulled from your memories, a face you needed to see."

"I need to see Max," she cried, taking a step towards him.

Standing, he moved forward, covering the distance between them and as he did, he changed, his hair growing as his body shrank and when he stood in front of Kate, he was Max, smiling up at her, reaching forward to take her hands. "I'm ok, mom."

She knelt, pressing his knuckles to her lips, even though she understood this wasn't truly him. "Baby where are you?"

"I'm in a cave, asleep, and in the morning we'll be heading towards the temple again."

"You can't go near the temple, Max, it's…"

He nodded, eyes closing a moment as he grinned, "Dangerous, I know, but it's ok mom. We have to go there; I have to take them there. It's the only way we'll be safe."

She could hear the ocean and she shook her head, "I don't want to wake up without you."

"I'm with you mommy," he touched her cheek. "Listen to me now, ok?" He waited, watching her as she stared down at the hand left in hers. "Mommy, you have to listen to me."

She looked up, touched his chest as she licked her lips, letting tears fall over her cheeks, over his fingers. "I'm listening, Max."

"When the earth starts to shake, you have to be inside the temple and you have to make sure the bad guys are outside…" Kate heard Jack's voice speaking softly, felt Max's hands slip away from her grasp and the walls of the temple were dissolving before her eyes. She watched her son speaking, but the ocean was drowning his voice out, "Dad… my… inside…"

Kate gave a jump, leaving that dream world for a reality she despised. The world where Jack stared down at her and her hand lay atop her belly and her intentions for the day had been planned out by the little boy in her mind. The little boy who woke miles away, his chest still warm from the touch of his mother's hand.

*

He was shoved forward, but the rope they'd tied around his waist went taut and he fell over, grunting when his tied hands failed to shield himself from rough ground. He pressed his lips together tightly and felt a hand grasp under his arm, pulling him off the ground and onto his feet.

"Keep moving, boy," Magnus ordered.

"You should get a switch from the tree, maybe a little discipline'll help him along," someone else called out angrily.

They'd been walking for hours and Max knew they were exhausted. He took them where there was little water and the trees bore no fruit. It wasn't that he'd ever been there; he just felt this was the right way to go. He followed a voice somewhere in the back of his mind, one that told him he would be alright.

It wasn't his father, he knew and he peered behind him at the men following him, men who sneered and cursed at him, and wished he could hear his father's voice again. It should be him telling him everything would be alright, telling him he would be there soon. Max hopped up on a fallen tree trunk and then over it, shouting when he felt the rope pull roughly, sending him to the ground again.

He felt a tooth dislodge and he spat it on the ground as someone behind him laughed. Max brought his tied hands up to his mouth to touch the space left there and he stared down at the blood on his fingers. He could almost feel his mother's presence as he lifted himself off the ground and began to move forward again.

i"It's not a game, is it."

No, baby, it isn't./i

It was a game to these men, he knew, hearing them laugh as he sniffled lightly, doing the best he could to wipe at the tears at his cheeks. He came to a slow stop at the edge of a large wall and he nodded his head at it, looking back at Magnus feeling, for the first time in his life, hatred.

"We have to go over the wall."


	9. Chapter 08 – Course Correction

Chapter 08 – Course Correction

Emily, Thomas and Maria refused to enter the temple. They stood behind it, waiting with the spears they'd carved themselves in the time they were apart from Magnus and the rest. Emily and Thomas promised to protect Max; Maria promised to avenge John. Kate followed Jack into the temple, her eyes trained on the woman as she rounded the temple and she could see from the way Emily and Thomas were watching her that while they understood her situation, they didn't trust her either.

They pushed the doors closed and as Jack moved away from her, Kate let her fingers slide down the images on the back of the door; images that should have been foreign to her, but instead were familiar and comforting. She touched the carved figure of a bird and smiled to herself knowing Max would love to see it, he'd drawn similar ones in the sand on the beach just days before.

"Who do you think sat there," Jack asked absently, removing the knife Thomas had given him – a knife that belonged to John – from his belt to examine it a moment before pushing it back in, hating the barbarity of it all.

Without turning from the lettering on the door, Kate told him, "The people who ruled this place before."

She could feel Jack's eyes on her and she let her hands fall at her side as she moved to walk to the center of the chamber to look up at the seats. This was the place she stood with Max, she knew, the place she watched Richard walk towards her and become Max. The question lingered in her mind, but she shook it away.

"What makes you say that?" Jack questioned, eyebrows lowering as he touched her elbow.

Kate approached the steps that lead up and she sighed, walking there and turning to sit at the throne on her right, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand. "I was here," she answered.

Jack covered the distance and sat in the throne next to her, holding her hands in her lap as he licked his lips. "Are you ok?"

Shaking her head, she turned and leaned forward to touch her head to his. "I just want this all to be over, but I get the impression this – all this – is only just the beginning."

"He'll be here any minute now and everything will be fine," Jack assured her, knowing now wasn't the time to question her, despite the questions he had. He trusted he would get his answers in time. "We should wait by the door."

"Jack," she waited, watching as his eyes searched hers. "We can't let them in here."

"We won't, Kate." She felt her heart starting to hammer, afraid, and she closed her eyes, hearing Jack call her name softly. "Hey," he gave her hands a squeeze. "Hey, it'll be ok, Kate. We'll get Max back, we'll end this."

Kate smiled, nodding before shifting away from him to stand and he stood with her, his hands never leaving hers and when they walked down the steps together, she readied herself for what was to come.

*

Magnus walked slowly, one hand gripping the rope that lead to Max, the other holding a spear. The men around him were equally cautious, jumping and turning towards every branch that snapped and every bird call that came from inside the jungle that had swallowed a courtyard that used to surround the temple. Max imagined people lived there once. He stepped over the ruins of homes and statues, his eyes followed a path only ghosts had taken for the past thousand years and he waited.

His heart hammered knowing something was going to happen, something bigger than any of them had ever experienced and he glanced back at Magnus, who poked at his back with the tip of the spear, scratching him there. "How far?"

"It's not far now," Max responded, turning back to see the shadow of a man he somehow recognized, despite never having seen. A man, he knew, who protected the island.

iIt's ok, Max, they're near./i

His voice was calm, and it gave him the confidence to walk faster, towards the source of the voice, until they stood at the edge of a place even the trees respected. Max felt the rope at his waist go lax and Magnus pushed past him, eyes set on the pyramid ahead of them, but the other men didn't move, they remained fixed in place, their shields and spears held tightly in their hands.

"Come men, let us claim it as our own!" Magnus shouted, walking towards the temple.

Max turned to see the wide eyes of those left, how their bodies trembled as they dared to take a step towards Magnus and Max edged away slowly, moving past Magnus and towards the front doors, which were warm under his palms as he knocked dully against the surface.

Magnus laughed, "Boy," he started, but he shifted, taking several steps back when the doors began to slide open heavily. "BOY COME HERE!" Magnus shouted, but Max could see the faces in the darkness and he rushed inside, pushing his head into his mother's side as she wrapped her arms around him, rushing to free him from his restraints as Jack stepped just outside the doors and looked at the men below.

One of the men moved forward, grabbing Magnus by the shoulder and giving him a firm shake. "We've disturbed gods, Magnus. Stolen their CHILD! We will DIE if we stay here!"

"They are mere humans," Magnus scoffed. "Humans taking advantage of your fear of this place. Nothing will happen to us."

"I'd reconsider if I were you," Jack told him firmly. "You're not welcome here."

Someone broke into a run back towards the wall that surrounded the temple and Magnus smiled, calmly. "Would a god choose to remain captive?" He asked the men behind him. "He protected the temple by playing a fool." Magnus raised his shield and motioned for the others to do the same. "And he will die."

Jack felt Kate at his side, felt her hand grip his shoulder and then slip away, moving further into the temple as he moved out, hand clasping the knife at his side as he watched spears tear through two of the men below. Another man ran back in the direction they came. Emily and Thomas leapt out, engaging in a fight and Maria snuck around trying to attack Magnus, but someone grabbed her by the arm, swung her around and punched her.

Magnus gripped the sharp tipped spear he held and rushed forward and Jack could see the greed in his eyes as he moved up the steps and towards Jack, who swallowed hard, ready for the attack. He ducked away from the spear and grabbed his wrist, pushing him back as he heard Kate and Max shouting together, "Don't let him in!"

"None of us should be here," Jack breathed roughly, pushing Magnus back down the steps.

With a hand wrapped around Jack's own arm, keeping the knife away from him, Magnus smiled. "Oh, some of us do." He slammed his head into Jack's and pushed him off the steps when he recoiled, but before Magnus could leap up the steps, a rock smashed him in the mouth, sending him several steps back before he spat blood and looked up at the door of the temple where Kate stood, shielding her son, another large rock held tightly in her hands.

Magnus smiled, "I'll conquer you woman," he hissed, working his way up the steps, but Jack grabbed hold of his ankle and yanked, sending him onto his belly, shouting out as ribs broke against the rock steps beneath him.

He flipped over and blindly stabbed at Jack, narrowly missing him before Jack took the spear and tossed it aside, pulling Magnus off the steps and onto the ground. Jack grabbed Magnus by his shirt and punched his face as Kate and Max shouted for him. They made him hesitate and in that moment the man under him laughed psychotically, his red and bloodied face contorting as he lay against the ground defeated.

Standing, Jack moved to help Emily fend off two of the men, pulling her away from them as the rest began to look up towards the temple, shrieking with fear. Jack turned, watched as the smoke filled the sky and he ran back towards the steps, through the doors to find Kate and Max waiting inside, rocks handy. Kate rushed to him, hugging him tight and just then, the ground began to shake.

"We have to get the others," Jack shouted past the rumbling.

Kate shook her head, "We have to close the doors!"

Her and Max moved past him, pushing the left door shut as Jack responded, "We can't leave them out there!"

Max turned and with the same certainty Kate had, he informed him, "They'll be fine, dad, close the door."

Jack hesitated, watched them as they shifted to the right door and he moved to join them as the motion beneath their feet became harsher, shaking them away from the door, towards the center of the room, where they huddled together, Max between them, holding tightly to his mother.

*

Thomas made his way to Emily, took her arms as the ground beneath them shook and the smoke monster swirled in the sky menacingly. He pointed out towards the jungle, "We need to get out of here," he shouted before being knocked to the ground.

Emily screamed as Magnus fell atop Thomas, both men grunting in obvious pain before Magnus scrambled to his feet, Thomas' journal in hand and he tore into the jungle leaving Emily standing with Thomas, perplexed. Maria came to stand at their side, her eyes trained on the temple. "We must leave, NOW," she shouted at them and they moved quickly, running towards the wall.

Thomas pushed Emily over and watched Maria climb with little effort as he pulled himself atop the wall, looking back towards where the smoke had spread over the temple, protecting it and its occupants, he knew. The rock underneath him crackled and he leapt off, falling onto the ground where both women yanked him to his feet, but they couldn't stand steady enough to keep upright and they collapsed, pushing closer together against a large tree.

*

Most of the men had reached the boat already and Magnus ran across a dock that shook with the motions of the island. He gripped the journal in his hands as he leapt onto the small ship and ordered the men to push off from the dock and head out to sea.

They didn't get very far before the island disappeared from view, sinking instantly into the waters, the shock waves shoot their small vessel further out into the open ocean. Magnus laughed, shrieking with madness as he patted the small book he held.

"Sir, I see a ship approaching," someone said quietly, their voice shaky as they looked out into the foggy waters and saw the larger boat slowing.

Magnus opened the book, looked down at the drawings and notes and pictures of cartoons and hieroglyphs made by small hands and he laughed until tears streamed down his face, even as the pirates opened fire and the bullets tore through his chest. He fell to the ground with a smile on his face.

*

"Kate. Kate?"

Jack's voice sounded far away, as though he were speaking through water and she felt the heat of his hands on hers, could feel she was laying against the ground as she opened her eyes and watched Jack sigh as Max threw himself atop her, face bright with tears. She wrapped an arm around him, letting Jack help her off the ground as she looked around the temple.

"What happened?"

Jack looked up towards the door. "The earthquake stopped."

They stood, walking to the doors and pushing them open and Max took three quick steps out before stopping suddenly, breathing in sharply as Jack and Kate joined him, looking down at the people there. The men and women congregated at the foot of the steps fell to the ground to bow and Kate looked up at Jack, feeling his hand snake around her waist protectively as hers hugged under Max's chin, across his upper chest.

A young boy approached them, a gentle breeze flittering against the dingy white clothe that covered his chest in a vest-like top that tied at the waist, forming a skirt that fell just above his knees. He was not much bigger than Max and he ran his finger along the boy's freckles before smiling and pointing to the sky.

"You come from the air," he said, looking up at Jack and Kate. "From the silver bird in the sky."

"We came to protect the island," Max responded, and then added, loud and clear enough for everyone down below to hear, "It's our home."

The boy nodded and with a smile, he told them, "We've been waiting for you."


	10. Epilogue

Epilogue

The island was still again and Thomas opened his eyes, looked around and his grip on the women at his sides loosened. Their head came up slowly and the trio stood. Maria touched a gash on her thigh and Emily hissed for her, tearing at her clothing to make a bandage as Thomas walked towards back towards the wall.

"What happened?" Maria cried out as Emily tied the cloth on.

Thomas touched the hieroglyph of a bird, his finger sliding down towards the two shapes that had seemingly been dropped from it and he turned back, going towards the two. "The earthquake stopped."

Maria leaned against the tree as Thomas touched a cut on Emily's cheek just as a doorway in the wall slid open and a man walked through. He gave Thomas a small nod of acknowledgement before asking, "You come from the sea? From the ship on our island?"

"Where is the family that entered the temple?" Emily asked, taking a step towards the man.

"They're where they're supposed to be," he responded calmly, raising a hand, "As are you, Emily."

Maria narrowed her eyes at him, pushed off the tree and stood, walking towards him and raising a hand to touch the flesh of the man's cheek, "You remind me of a boy..." she started. "His name was Max."

The man laughed. "My name is Richard Alpert," he moved to help Maria stand more comfortably and he nodded his head towards in the direction of the temple. "And this is our home."

"Our home?" Emily echoed, walking with him through the door that a few men closed behind them.

"Yes," he turned, nodding his head at the wall where Thomas stood, his fingers sliding against the hard stone, finding the carving of the tree just outside, and the people taking shelter there. At either side of them were carved hands, hands Thomas knew, that meant to keep them safe. "And we've been waiting for you for a long time."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Finis


End file.
